America Failed Election 2006

Every liberal in America was as excited about last November's Congressional election results. With the Democrats recapturing both houses in congress, it seemed as if a long awaited change in regards to the running of the Iraq War, and running of this country, had finally arrived.

Not so fast, my friend!

With United State’s President George Bush vetoing Congress’s bill to minimize spending and start troop withdrawal from Iraq, it’s clear that Bush is not going to play ball with the Democratic majority. What’s even clearer though is that despite the fact that Congress and its Democrats can come together, create a decent solution and get enough Republican’s on board to get the bill passed and sent to the Executive office, Republicans will not disobey their Command and Chief’s veto.

So what’s the point of having a Democratic majority in Congress if it won’t serve the purpose for which they were elected to office?

The answer is that there is no point. It's like trying to do Al Sharpton's hair with only one can of hair gel.

While having the Democratic majority will prevent the government from spending more money and endangering more lives (hopefully), it cannot put an end to the war itself.

But why do I bring this up? Especially after it’s so evident with Bush just recently having vetoed a bill that would begin to put an end to the War on Iraq. But I bring this issue up to reflect on the nationwide celebration that went on last November, as we liberals patted ourselves on the back for getting Democrats in Congress and putting Nancy Pelosi at the helm.

Looking back, that pat on the back was not warranted.

Nothing has changed, and nothing is going to. At least not until there is a two-thirds majority in Congress. With Bush vetoing bills and electing new legal officials, the only way for Democrats to have an effect on policymaking is to have them completely dominate one of the branches of the government.

I hate to be a pessimist, but because the Democratic share of the Legislature is barely more than 50%, there won’t be any change in the nation’s war efforts, or in our worldwide outlook.

That means 2007 is a wash. I want to see the troops come home as much as anybody, but it’s clear that Bush won’t let that happen under his watch, and with Congress to back his every veto, he has the power to maintain his convictions.

This also probably means that 2008 is a wash. With the Democratic officials’ focus sure to turn more towards winning an election rather than running this country, nothing of great significance and superior strategy can be expected to be accomplished.

So unfortunately we failed during 2006 elections. It took us a while to realize that, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. The United States of America, as a people, cried and clamored for the war to end throughout all of 2006, and when the chance came to make a significant move…we didn’t. Say all you want about electing a Democratic majority, but the truth is that when we didn’t get a two-thirds majority elected, we just didn’t do enough.